Do I ship it?

Games › Puzzle › Puzzle + Artificial Intelligence

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an AI Puzzle game?

Puzzle + Artificial Intelligence

Of 193 developers who shipped an AI Puzzle game in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 226 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $810, ×1.7 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $120. Revenue is up 205% on the market; 226 games are announced against 137 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 205% on the market, 226 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Puzzle + Artificial Intelligence
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 193
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.4k → $1.3k → $597 → $683 → $535 → $899 → $475 (still earning) → $1.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Puzzle + Artificial Intelligence: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 193
Bottom 30% $119 (exactly $119)
Median $809 (exactly $809)
Top 25% $6.2k (exactly $6,224)
Top 5% $257k (exactly $256,672)
Developers, 2 yr 193
Released games 695
Announced 226
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $2.99

momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue up 205% on the market, supply 110% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Puzzle
effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data
Artificial Intelligence
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Puzzle; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Simulation, Hidden Object
Price point
$2.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $2.99.

The top 10 games average 73% positive over 65,682 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $810, 1 in 4 over $6.2k, 1 in 20 over $250k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 145 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 226 games are announced against 137 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Puzzle with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Job SimulatorFair57 devs · median $8.2k · 53 announced
  2. + Medical SimFair17 devs · median $6.1k · 27 announced
  3. + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair40 devs · median $3.6k · 54 announced
  4. + Escape RoomFair161 devs · median $1.8k · 150 announced
  5. + VampiresFair46 devs · median $1.7k · 37 announced
  6. + CatsFair281 devs · median $1.2k · 334 announced
  7. + DemonsFair233 devs · median $1.2k · 248 announced
  8. + God GameFair27 devs · median $1.2k · 30 announced
  9. + RomanceFair209 devs · median $1.0k · 251 announced
  10. + AutomationFair135 devs · median $1.0k · 164 announced
  11. + Tower DefenseFair64 devs · median $1.0k · 67 announced
  12. + LemmingsFair13 devs · median $959 · 11 announced

All 246 pairs on the Puzzle page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

The Talos Principle 2014 · $26M SUPERHOT VR 2017 · $6.0M Hello Neighbor 2 2022 · $5.2M The Turing Test 2016 · $4.7M Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library! 2026 · $4.4M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Talos Principle older $29.99 29,237 95% 877k $26M (exactly $26,304,529) Croteam
SUPERHOT VR older $24.99 7,978 82% 239k $6.0M (exactly $5,981,107) SUPERHOT Team
Hello Neighbor 2 older $39.99 4,361 81% 131k $5.2M (exactly $5,231,892) Eerie Guest, tinyBuild
The Turing Test older $24.99 6,246 87% 187k $4.7M (exactly $4,682,626) BULKHEAD
Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library! $5.99 24,497 94% 735k $4.4M (exactly $4,402,111) ArtRising
Observation older $24.99 4,590 78% 138k $3.4M (exactly $3,441,123) Screen Burn
5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel older $11.99 8,097 96% 243k $2.9M (exactly $2,912,491) Conor Petersen, Thunkspace, LLC
while True: learn() older $12.99 7,350 91% 221k $2.9M (exactly $2,864,295) Luden.io
The Farmer Was Replaced $9.99 9,116 95% 273k $2.7M (exactly $2,732,065) Timon Herzog
The Entropy Centre older $19.99 3,359 89% 101k $2.0M (exactly $2,014,392) Stubby Games
BidKing $2.99 22,238 33% 667k $2.0M (exactly $1,994,749) MindSurge Network & Games
The Talos Principle: Reawakened $39.99 1,085 90% 33k $1.3M (exactly $1,301,674) Croteam
AI2U: With You 'Til The End $14.99 2,073 87% 62k $932k (exactly $932,228) AlterStaff Inc.
Supermarket Chaos $4.99 3,266 92% 98k $489k (exactly $488,920) BunnyHop
HackHub - Ultimate Hacker Simulator $16.99 937 88% 28k $478k (exactly $477,589) HotBunny
Sort Them Ducks $5.99 1,461 92% 44k $263k (exactly $262,542) Mr.Duck
The Conquest of Go $14.99 581 94% 17k $261k (exactly $261,276) Wolfey Studios
Detective Sherlock: Shadow Stalker · EA $19.99 428 88% 13k $257k (exactly $256,672) Gamercury

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.